Latvian black storks - 2023- 2024

[Liz01]

Feeding No 2
10:24 here he comes! Ogris

OXF5 is not here

[Liz01]

most is eating from his beak



10:26 they are looking to the left.. is there OXF5? Or is it Ogris flying away ?

10:27 they are twittering - they see the sibling?
10:30 ps by OXF3 only a drop! he has not eaten much. I'm glad that he was here for eating.
searching for edible things


10:33 someone is flying

[Liz01]

10:34 breaking branches. OXF5 is flying around the nest- he missed the nest




10:48 OXF6 flies onto a branch above

10:57 OXF3 & OXF4 are in the nest

[Liz01]

11:08 OXF6 jumps down .. greeting


11:08:30 good ps by OXF6

11:11:06 sibling is flying around on the right- I think it is him. Not a parent


11:25 happy return by OXF5 He flies in like Urga

[Liz01]

11:32 big threat I'm glad, they all can fly!
A fast-flying bird is visible in the upper right corner. It flies over the nest to the left. / It was not a WTE. maybe a hawk or a buzzard. But a buzzard does not fly so fast Basically, it was not a threat. They react to the silhouette of birds of prey

[Liz01]

OXF6 / that is not poop . These are typical signs of nutrient deficiency





11:35 all are standing with beak tucked in their feathers
11:52 they all are still resting
12:15:30 ps by OXF6 .. just a drop
12:31 preening in front of camera

[Liz01]

Feeding No 3
11:32 Ogris with small fishes

[Liz01]

Ogris with the fishes


13:00 human voices and breaking branches. They are pretty loud
BTW: it seems our Storklets are without fear

13:04 black woodpecker is calling
13:04:55 big yawning by OXF4


13:06:00 good ps by OXF3


13:17:05 not so good ps by OXF5
13:18 humans voices again! why do people scream so loudly in the woods? Are they crazy? I learned that you have to be quiet in the forest

now they are under the nest tree! Now the storks are worried

[Liz01]

Feeding No 4
13:53 Urga!
the frogs were eaten directly from her beak.

[Liz01]

[Liz01]

OXF5 jumps on a branch above


OXF6 on the left, OXF3 on the right, OXF4 in the middle


15:01 OXF5 jumps down into the nest

15:02 OXF3 counts his toes

[Liz01]

Four deliveries till now! The parents do their best to bring food. They are simply amazing!

I got a mail from M.S.
sometimes I am a bit violent in my reaction

regarding to the screaming humans

1) It is true that this nest site has a protection zone, so called mircoreserve, however, that does not restrict anybody from entering that forest (any time of year). No formal rules are broken here.

5) This nest is quite close to a driveable forest road where it is convenient to park a car, so at some extent it is a surprise that there are so few visits (near bye) so far

7:) Adults do not care humans next to nest tree or near bye while approaching nest with (large) juveniles – most of them seem to approach nest „on autopilot” mode. About once in 10 cases during ringing adults approach nest and feed youngs while we are under nest or even on the tree straight under the nest. A few times adult bird has almost landed on back of my collegue who is IN the nest.

sorry, but this is funny!

All that said, it is not „innocent” if people frighten birds to the point when they all leave the nest and never return – see my previous email about departure ages. Mean age of birds that leave the nest because of (human; precise cause not known in most cases) disturbance is 76,8 days (67.4-82,6, n=25). Age of this company at the time of my writing is 73,6 (F3), 73,8 (F4), 73,0 (F5) 71,7 (F6). Two of those frightened 25 are younger than the youngest of these four. An important addition to that is – none of those 25 have appeared anywhere afterwards. Some still might (we do have the 1st records of some ringed birds be registered just 10 years after their ringing) but for now they are likely among those that have failed. So I consider significant disturbance this time of year be worse than any other time of breeding season. (Disturbance in early spring may mean there might be no breeding at all, however adults in that case are free and can „enjoy summer” on their own, if it happens now it may mean waste of season, no success plus both adults are exhausted and may have reduced capacity to make it to the next year).

[Liz01]

15:36 OXF4 and OXF6 are standing in the nest- OXF5 & OXF3 are cuddling




15:48 all are up

[Liz01]

16:41 preening and resting


they are looking up and around. I could not find out why.

[Liz01]

Feeding No 5
17:02 Ogris this time he brings bigger fishes
what a great day!

[Liz01]

17:11 OXF5 jumps from the parent branch to the left branch
OXF6 is on the parent branch
OXF3 & OXF4 are in the nest
17:15 OXF6 back in the nest
17:17 OXF3 is walking onto the parent branch
17:18 he is now on the branch fork and is walking to the right
17:19 OXF6 went on the parent branch and flies to the left

17:20 OXF4 is twittering- OXF3 jumps down
17:22 OXF3 is on the parent branch again, near the branch fork
17:32 he is standing on one leg on the branch fork. cool!

[Liz01]

17:38 OXF3 is still in the nest
17:39:03 good ps by him

he is doing nest cleaning and searching for leftover
17:56 OXF3 is still on the branch fork standing on one leg

[Liz01]

I will continue tomorrow morning..
I got another email from M.S. and laughed out loud. I love any kind of humor! This saved my day

18:41 OXF comes back into the nest - small ps by her


19:13 OXF3 is sitting in the nest


19:15 OXF5 drops from above

[Liz01]

19:20 OXF6 comes in from above the nest too


19:49 all are sitting in the nest


19:57 OXF5 stands up and is doing a small ps

[Liz01]

OXF5 starts preening all his siblings